Small businesses in Minneapolis and St. Paul have grown faster than other cities, despite facing major challenges from a shortage of skilled workers, according to a study released this week by U.S. Bank.
The survey of 1,600 small businesses and 1,000 employees in the Twin Cities, North Carolina, Phoenix, Los Angeles and Charlotte found that 91 percent of local small businesses surveyed reported growth, compared with 73 percent of businesses in other cities.
“We found that optimism is much higher in the Twin Cities compared to the rest of the country,” said Shruti Patel, chief product officer for business banking at U.S. Bank. “Nearly 93% of businesses surveyed in the Twin Cities view their business as successful and have experienced growth in the past year.”
Bryce Quinn, co-owner of popular St. Paul-based spots Cafe Latte and Bread & Chocolate, said business is booming.
“Last year was a good year for us, but this year our sales are better than last year,” he said. “Prices have been pretty stable, so we’re hopeful things will continue to be good for the rest of the year.”
While that’s good news, the majority of small businesses surveyed by U.S. Bank in the Twin Cities also reported significant stressors that make it difficult for them to grow and operate profitably.
About 55% of companies said that a lack of employee skills and the need for extensive training was their biggest challenge, compared to 34% of small and medium-sized businesses nationwide.
“These two stressors were more severe in the Minneapolis-Twin Cities study than in other parts of the country,” Patel said.
